| Zonolite Company/W.R. Grace, 900 Iron Horse Park, North Billerica, Massachusetts |
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| EPA Region |
Location of facility | Type of facility | Amount of ore received (in tons) |
Did EPA visit the site? |
Were samples taken? |
Results of evaluation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 900 Iron Horse Park, North Billerica, Massachusetts | Former exfoliation facility | Unknown | Yes-March 7, 2000 | Yes | Although an EPA database compiled from W.R. Grace shipping invoices contained no records indicating ore from the Libby mine was shipped to this site, a 1964 report issued by the Bureau of Mines (at that time in the U.S. Department of the Interior) indicated this facility had been a vermiculite exfoliation plant. EPA found that the vast majority of this site was covered with a building and a large blacktopped parking area. Given that most of the site was covered by the building or paved, EPA concluded that if contamination were present in the soil it would not be a health or environmental threat because it was encapsulated. During the visit, EPA did not observe any vermiculite or vermiculite waste piles. EPA did collect 11 samples from some unpaved areas on the property. These samples were analyzed using polarized light microscopy (PLM). Two of the samples contained asbestos in excess of 1-percent and those two samples were further analyzed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). As a result of the TEM analysis, the asbestos fibers present in the samples were determined to be predominately chrysotile--a type of asbestos not found in Libby ore. On the basis of this and other information collected during the site inspection, EPA determined that the site did not pose a health threat and concluded no further action was necessary. EPA stated in January 2009 that it plans to revisit the site to determine if conditions at the site have changed and may consider further sampling. |
| GAO-09-6R |